Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) and Mineral Resources Authority of Mongolia (MRAM) performed test drilling in the right side of Deposit 2 in Ugii Nuur Fe-Mn occurrence area, Mongolia. It was decided to perform the drilling with 65 degree of drilling angle due to the technological limit of low angle drilling and designed to find ore bodies in cores between 50 m and 70 m. Ore bodies were found in lower depths than expected probably due to the folds in the subsurface in three drilling sites other than drilling position 3. Ore body in drilling position 3 was found in the similar depths with the expected depths. In drilling position 1, high Fe bearing ore body (more than 40%) was found between 47.45 and 50 m and between 56.35 and 57.1 m. The rest of ore body in drilling position 1 and ore bodies in other three sites have low Fe contents with about 10% of Fe. In drilling position 1, maximum and average Mn contents are about 10% and 1%, respectively, and in other three sites, average Mn contents are about 0.2%. Whereas Mn contents are low, Fe and Mn contents show very similar variations with varying depths, suggesting that they were moved and concentrated together in the ore genesis process. Proved resources estimated for the ore bodies confirmed by drilling are Fe 231,661 tonne with 11.82% of the average Fe grade. Possible resources supposing that ore bodies of DP-1 and DP-2 are connected and those of DP-3 and DP-4 are connected are Fe 4,415,296 tonne with 11.82% of the average Fe grade. The possibility of development of this area based on the estimated resources is low because the ore grade is low.

A mineralogical analysis on the factors affecting the luster of pearls was carried out using gravity measurement, optical microscope observation, X-ray diffraction analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. We divided the seawater cultured pearls from Tongyeong into the following four types based on luster and shape; good luster and round (LR), lackluster and round (LLR), lackluster and baroque (LLB), and lackluster and two nucleus (LTN) pearls. Pearls with high-quality luster had slightly lower specific gravity as compared to pearls with low-quality luster, but both these types of pearls are within the specific gravity range of commercial pearls. Regarding the cross-sectional thickness of the mother-of-pearl layer, LR pearls showed a uniform thickness of about 0.3 mm in average. On the other hand, LLR pearls were characterized by relatively thinner, but uniform thickness. LTN and LLB pearls showed a tendency of significantly large variation in thickness even within a single pearl. For the surface of pearls, pearls with high-quality luster showed narrower and clearer growth lines of aragonite crystals as compared to pearls with low-quality luster. Pearls with high-quality luster were characterized by fewer aragonite crystal lattice defects as compared to pearls with low-quality luster, and the former showed parallel arrangement, thinner thickness, and less difference in thickness on the surface and inside. If a pearl has a prismatic layer, it is composed of aragonite with calcite in the prismatic and nacreous layer, and calcite content is very high in the lackluster pearl. Pearls without a prismatic layer were devoid of calcite irrespective of their quality of luster, and were composed of aragonite.

In order to study the mineralogical and chemical characteristics of copper slag, optical microscopy, SEM/EDS, EPMA, AAS and XRD analyses were carried out. In addition, sulfuric acid leaching experiments were performed to investigate the potential of the slag as a copper resource. It was confirmed that fayalite, chromite, bornite and chalcopyrite were contained in the slag. The slag mainly consisted of acicular fayalite and skeletal lath -euhedral chromite crystals. Also a very large amount of bornite and chalcopyrite grains were contained in the slag. The content of Fe and Cu in the slag was 18.37% and 0.93%, respectively. As a result of sulfuric acid leaching experiments, the leaching rates of Cu and Fe were increased through decreasing the slag particle size, increasing the sulfuric acid concentration and the leaching temperature. The maximum efficiency of Cu and Fe leaching were obtained under the conditions of particle size of 32 mesh, sulfuric acid concentration of 2.0 M, and leaching temperature of . Accordingly, it is expected that the slag could be available as a potential and alternative resource of metallic copper.

Cyanide can be leached out from the cyanidation method which has been used to extract high-purity gold and silver from ores, and it becomes a variety of cyanide complexes associated with heavy metals contained in ores. Such cyanide complexes are considered as persistent and non-degradable pollutants which cause adverse effects on humans and surrounding environments. Based on binding force between heavy metals and cyanide, cyanide complexes can be categorized weak acid dissociable (WAD) and strong acid dissociable (SAD). This study comparatively evaluated the performance of photo-catalytic process with regard to forms of cyanide complexes. In particular, both effects of UV LED wavelength and surface modification of photo-catalyst on the removal efficiency of cyanide complexes were investigated in detail. The results indicate that the performance of photo-catalytic oxidation is significantly affected by the form of cyanide complexes. In addition, the effect of UV LED wavelength on the removal efficiency was quite different between free cyanide and cyanide complexes associated with heavy metals. The results support that the surface modification of photo-catalyst, such as doping can improve overall performance of photo-catalytic oxidation of cyanide complexes.

Recently, carbon capture and storage (CCS) techniques have been globally studied. This study was conducted to use waste cement powder as an efficient raw material of mineral carbonation for sequestration. Direct aqueous carbonation experiment was conducted with injecting pure gas (99.9%) to a reactor containing reacting solution and the pulverized cement paste (W:C

We applied gemological analytical approaches on Aquamarine from the Gilgit-Baltistan of Northern Areas, Pakistan. The standard gemological testing indicates that they are consistent with general characteristics of natural aquamarines. We have identified the inclusions of Tantalite-Mn by Raman analysis. It indicates that they occurs in association with the veins of Be-rich coarse pegmatite. And the results of chemical analyses, infrared absorption spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy indicate that molecules in channel mostly exist in Type-I and a little Type-II with low alkali ion. The comparison of relative peak intensity of FT-IR analysis can be used for prediction of content within not only emerald but also aquamarine.

While the macroscopic properties and eruption style of basaltic and phonolitic melts are different, the microscopic origins including atomic structures are not well understood. Here we report the atomic structure differences of glass in diopside-anorthite eutectic composition (basaltic glass) and phonolitic glass using high-resolution 1D and 2D solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). The MAS NMR spectra for basaltic glass and phonolitic glass show that the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of Al for basaltic glass is about twice than phonolitic glass, suggesting the topological disorder of basaltic magma is larger than that of phonolitic magma. The 3QMAS NMR spectra for basaltic glass and phonolite glass show much improved resolution than the 1D MAS NMR, resolving Al and Al. Approximately 3.3% of Al is observed for basaltic glass, demonstrating the configurational disorder of basaltic magma is larger than phonolitic magma. This result confirms that the topological disorder of Al in basaltic glass is larger than that of phonolitic glass. The observed structural differences between basaltic glass and phonolitic glass can provide an atomistic origin for change of the macroscopic properties with composition including viscosity.

This study was carried out in order to investigate the mineralogical characteristics of the core sediments (03GHP-02 and HB13-2), obtained from the Ulleung Basin and Hupo Basin, Korea. The results on mineral compositions, clay mineral compositions, and the total contents and sequential extraction of different fractions of the phosphorus in core samples showed that those values are different in two cores and also at different depths. In both samples, mineral compositions were the same, composed mainly of quartz, microcline, albite, calcite, opal A, pyrite, and clay minerals (illite, chlorite, kaolinite, and smectite). However, the sample from Hupo Basin contains more opal A. Both samples, especially the ones from Hupo Basin contains more smectite than those reported from East Sea, indicating the influence of paleo-Hwangwei River and the Tertiary Formation of Korea Peninsula. For the samples from Uleung Basin, at 0.7-3.5 m range in depth, the low content of opal A and the low illite crystallinity index can be inferred to indicate the relatively cool climate, corresponding to the ice age. Also, the content of total phosphorus was low in those samples. It was reported that East Sea at that time was isolated from the neighboring seas due to the decrease of the sea level, and as a result, the influx of sediments was supposed to be little through the strait and rivers. For the samples from Hupo Basin, there is no significant changes in clay mineral composition and the distribution of phosphorus with increasing depth. This little change can be interpreted to indicate that the sediments comprising the core might be deposited in a relatively short period of time or deposited in sedimentary environment in which there`s no significant changes in sediment supplies. The values of crystallinity index of clay minerals are high in those samples, indicating that it was relatively warm during that time. Although the increase of fluctuation pattern can be observed, showing that the climate of this period often changed, it is supposed that it was generally warm.